Pulsational pair-instability supernovae in gravitational-wave and electromagnetic transients

Understand

Current observations of binary black-hole ({BBH}) merger events show support for a feature in the primary BH-mass distribution at $\sim\,35\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$, previously interpreted as a signature of pulsational pair-instability (PPISN) supernovae.

• Such supernovae are expected to map a wide range of pre-supernova carbon-oxygen (CO) core masses to a narrow range of BH masses, producing a peak in the BH mass distribution.
• However, recent numerical simulations place the mass location of this peak above $50\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$.
• Motivated by uncertainties in the progenitor's evolution and explosion mechanism, we explore how modifying the distribution of BH masses resulting from PPISN affects the populations of gravitational-wave (GW) and electromagnetic (EM) transients.